Turducken V

Yes, that is bacon covering the turducken to keep it moist.

In December Rory and I hosted Turducken V. Those who have been in attendance for all Turducken events received a golden ticket which grandfathers them into all future Turducken's even if they miss a year. It's hard to believe we've been doing this for five years and we don't see any stopping.


It was nice having more space, we had 20+ people, can't remember the exact number since it was more than six weeks ago. I didn't feel on top of everybody there and even though we extended the dining room table with another six foot banquet table it worked out really well and wasn't too cramped.

On the food front, not much was new or different. The exception being that I deboned all the birds myself this year. The past couple of years I had Paulina Meat Market debone the turkey but I didn't feel like paying the premium this year or making the drive so I did it myself. The chicken is easy enough and I'm fairly sure I could do that with my eyes blindfolded, the duck is a little more challenging because it does have an unusual rib cage.

The turkey was like a big chicken, which made it easier to an extent, but getting underneath the back was a pain in the ass. After cleaning off the breasts, legs, thighs I had to take the kitchen shears to the rib cage just to make it easier to get around the back. It also helped that the turkey was a bit frozen, even after four days of sitting in the fridge, made it easier to work with.

Between Turducken and having my mom's family over we probably hosted close to 50 people in December. All said everything went well, there's something about cooking large pieces of meat that all can enjoy.

Pies

The pies I made for Thanksgiving turned out really well. The black bottom bourbon pecan pie was a hit and the other one seemed to tp be well received too. I didn't use that pie crust recipe and I used dark chocolate for the bottom.

Now I'm trying to figure out what cookies to make for turducken. My traditional chocolate chip are a given and I'm probably going to do a rolled sugar cookie since Rory gave me one of my Christmas presents early. But I would like one more and am stuck. Any ideas?

Turducken V

Turducken V is this weekend. It kinda snuck up on me with Thanksgiving this past weekend, even though Rory and I decorated the house and put a tree up.

I'm making my prep list and figuring out all what I have to do this week. Today I'm heading out and buying the turkey and duck. I figure both will be frozen and the turkey will live in the first all week and I'll put the duck in the fridge Wednesday or so.

I've made my own turducken the last two years and plan on doing it again this year with one change, I'm deboning the turkey myself. I had the fine folks at Paulina meat market do this in the past but now that we moved it's too far to go. It also makes it more economical, while I love the Paulina meat market so, charged a bit more for the turkey than the traditional supermarket. I've also gotten pretty good with the knife and am confident it'll go smoothly.

Pictures and updates throughout the week.

Turducken Part Three: Revenge of fowl

So I've been badly neglecting the blog with no really good excuse. Work was busy, and there were the holidays but I need to be better about keeping the four people who visit here better updated.

I probably have close to half a dozen posts from last year to catch you all up on, but I'll start with turducken, which was a little more than a month ago.

We had 21 this year for the feast in which I once again made my own bird(s). It is the last one in our apartment as well as the house hunting in the suburbs had begun in earnest. It'll be curious to see how this evolves next year. I like it being a sit down dinner and one of the things we're looking for in a house is a large dining room. Now 21 people is tight just about anywhere you go but with more room may expand next year.

Everything went pretty smoothly this year, especially compared to last year. Putting it together was pretty easy, I deboned the chicken and duck myself but ordered the turkey deboned from Paulina Meat Market.

I also made mashed potatoes, chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin and tiramisu ice creams. The latter two deserve their own posts, which will happen soon.

Another edition to the turducken was a wedding goft from Rory's college friends, a kegerator. We started out with a five-gallon keg of Two Brother's Ebel Weiss and then switched it out with a five-gallon keg of Two Brother's Domaine Dupage. I'm becoming a huge fan of Two Brother's brewery and may have to make a road trip out there soon.

Now for the food porn and hoping to be a better blogger in 2010.

Turducken: the results

Well, I did it and it turned out great. It wasn't easy and there was a minor disaster, but the end results were better than I could have expected. The results were a moist and tasty meat that has great flavor.

The hardest part I thought was going to be putting it together, but that was pretty easy. I deboned the duck and chicken myself without an issue. I had picked up the deboned turkey from Paulina Meat Market on Wednesday. The butcher gave me the bones, and I made a stock which turned out great for the gravy.

The turkey was a little more than 25 pounds before being deboned. After assembling the beast with some stuffing the result was a huge. I used more of a traditional stuffing, some celery, onion, sage, salt and pepper. I have a pretty big roasting pan, but there was no way this was going to fit in there. Luckily I had a disposable pan from something or other and it barely fit in there. In order to way the frankenbird I had to pull Rory's scale out of the bathroom, it weighed in at 24.8 pounds.
I placed some bacon on top of it and covered it with foil and put it in around 1 pm pn Friday, hoping it would be done by 7 pm. The one issue I know would pop up. There wasn't a whole lot of space in the pan and I knew we would get quite a bit of liquid so I would have to keep an eye on that. And this is where there was a minor disaster.

A little after 7 pm I was checking the temp of the bird and getting some liquid out when some spilled on the bottom of the stove. This caused smoke, a lot of smoke, more smoke than I have ever seen outside a fire. It may have been fine if some of the guests hadn't already arrived, but we made it though with only two calls from the landlord asking if I was burning down the building. Not to be too overdramatic, but this was just about the biggest kitchen disaster I have ever had and I was freaking out and smelling smoke the rest of the night even though the guests saiid it wasn't that bad.

But the smoke passed and the birds finished cooking. All told it took more than eight hours to cook to an internal temp of 170 degrees. I let it rest for about 25 minutes before carving. The way I carved it I got the coolest picture. You can clearly see al three layers of meat in the picture below and I think it's cool as hell.If I do this again there are a few things I would do differently, more importantly I would get a smaller turkey, 20 pounds max. I would also put a little more stuffing in the bird. I would put it in about an hour earlier and make sure I had a big enough roasting pan no matter what.

I'm doing it

I'm making my own turducken. I'll debone to duck and the chicken myself, but I ordered a debonded turkey from Paulina Meat Market.

I'll pick up the turkey next Wednesday and put it all together Thursday afternoon with the help of Charlie. The turducken has always scared Rory to some extend and having her help me put it together would probably be a bad idea. I'm going more traditional with the stuffing, i.e. onions, celery, sage, than Cajun.

It won't be as pretty as the one I get from Cajun Grocer, I'll split the turkey down the breast and sew it up. but it will hopefully be just as tasty. I will be sure to keep everyone updated here to let you all know how it goes.

Also, my apologies for not posting more, I don't have any great excuses. I have actually cooked a handful of new things lately but just haven't been writing as much. It might have to do with the stack of 15 contributed pieces sitting on my desk that need to be edited.

Also, Thanksgiving was good. My mom, dad and sister joined the future in laws up in Evanston. I made the Cauliflower Gratin that I mad last year and it was a lot of fun.

I have a problem

Ever since I saw this video I want to make my own turducken.

I would have to buy the turkey, duck and chicken already deboned, but I'm seriously thinking about it. It also appears as though there are a number of videos on YouTube that show you how to do it.

Any suggestions?

This will kick turducken's ass

My buddy Steve, who was at turducken, sent me this link. It's an article from the UK's Daily Mail about a chef that took 12 Christmas fowl and made a whole different multi-bird roast.

The beast contains: turkey, goose, chicken, pheasant, partridge, pigeon squab, Aylesbury duck, Barbary duck, poussin, guinea fowl, mallard-and quail with herb and fruit stuffings. It can serve 125 people, contains 50,000 calories and takes eight hours to cook. Anne Petch, a farmer who created the beast, made a fruit stuffing to go into the roast. Next years she wants to do a 21-bird roast.

I'm just kind of blown away. The turducken wikipedia entry is interesting and alludes to this type of thing, but I hadn't really seen it before. After you click on the link be sure to scroll down and check out the photos.

The Turducken Chronicles: An Epilogue

It was a lot of work but the party was a success. Prior to Saturday I had a few more people tell me I was nuts. I don't really want to cook for 18 people again, unless I'm getting paid, and this will make the turducken guest list for next year interesting.

Rory and I were pretty organized. The prep started on Friday with a trip to the store and some baking. The monster cookies turned out well. Four and a half cups of oats makea for a pretty chewy cookie. I thought they were ok, but others really enjoyed them.

The apple caramel cheesecake was incredibly easy and was probably one of the best desserts I've ever made. I had some doubts about this right before I made it, apples and caramel go together well, but I wasn't sure how it would work with the cheesecake. But it was great, the flavors melded together nicely. If you like apples and cheesecake you need to try this recipe.

On Friday I also made bourbon barbecue sauce. Bittman had suggested this as an extra sauce for Thanksgiving so I decided to give it a shot. It definitely had some kick to it, but it was a nice addition. I can't wait until the summer to put it on some grilled chicken.

On Saturday we tidied up and got ready. I put the turducken on around 2:15 pm and we peeled potatoes. I also blanched some broccoli for the broccoli parmesan. We put the potatoes on around 5 pm and they were done and ready to go before everyone arrived.

I wish I could have said the same about the turducken. It was supposed to take four to four and a half hours but it took five and a half. I let it rest for about 20 minutes before carving it, I know it should have been more but I had to get moving. And as you can see from the photos below I did cover it in bacon to give it a bit of extra moisture and flavor.

Once the turducken came out of the oven things started getting a bit hectic. I started making gravy from the drippings. At the same time I was putting stuffing that Sarah brought into the oven for reheating and then putting in some corn casserole that Ed and Karen brought. After that I had to take the broccoli and put it on a baking sheet with some butter and parmesan and get that ready for the oven.

And while it was hectic for a good 30 minutes or so everything turned out extremely well. Everybody had a great time. After all the food and desserts we ended up drinking till the wee hours. The last guests left about 4 am. I got to bed around 5 am after cleaning up.

It was a lot of work but I would do it again. I cook for myself, but I really enjoy cooking for others. And seeing how much people enjoyed everything really made me quite happy and realized that all the work was worth it.

Turducken: The Photos

The table before everyone shows up.

Our tree.

Yes, I covered the turducken with bacon.

Me taking the turducken out of the oven.

Another turducken shot.

To the cook goes the tuducken leg.

(Clockwise around the plate) Mashed potatoes and gravy, sausage stuffing, broccoli parmesan, turducken with bourbon barbecue sauce and corn casserole.

(Clockwise around the plate) Chocolate crinkles, ginger cookies, crack cookies and monster cookies.

Apple caramel cheesecake.

Chad's chocolate truffles.

Chocolate truffle and wreath cookie.

The Turducken Chronicles: The Final Story TK

I'm still recovering from last night's events. A full update will be coming in a day or so with pictures.

Awwwwww, it's a turducken

Rory was hoping for a girl, but instead it was a turducken.

I'm worried about having enough food now, it seems pretty small. I might get a turkey breast and cook it on the grill.

The Turducken Chronicles: Part Three

The beast has arrived. Good thing too since it’s my last day in the office for the rest of the week. The next couple of days will be spent preparing for the party as well as running some other errands and taking care of holiday stuff.

The reality of this party has hit me though. I can’t believe I’m hosting a sit down dinner for 18 people, 20 including Rory and I. My friend Jay, a trained chef, told me I was nuts. Last year I had 13 or 14, I can’t remember and it was a much smaller space. It should be fine. I have a stove that works, last year the beast took entirely too long to cook, and know what needs to be done. It all about the preparation or as the chefs’ say, mise en place.

And while I have a little bit of fear, I’m looking forward to the challenge. After I’m done running around Thursday I’m going to do some baking. I want to make biscotti and monster cookies.

On Friday I will hit the grocery store to pick up the rest of the fixings and what I need for a caramel apple cheesecake, which I’ll make on Friday. I also need to hit the liquor store to pick up some Jameson for Irish coffee and bourbon for the muld wine. I’ll also clean the place from top to bottom on Friday. (And yes, I know I'm making two Paula Deen recipes, I believe this is the first time I've made anything from her, but both look too good to pass up).

The Turducken Chronicles: Part Two

The beast has been ordered. It should be here on Wednesday, at least I hope. I'm only working until Wednesday this week and then taking a couple of days off to prepare.

The party is just six days away. Rory and I bought and decorated our tree yesterday. I sent emails to the 19 guests last night, in some cases confirming what they were bringing, and in other cases asking for them to bring something.

If any of you guys are reading this we need chairs, and maybe an additional card table.

Update: The Turducken is on its way! FedEx says it will be at the office before 4:30 pm on Wednesday.

Holiday cookies

Rory baked some holiday cookies Wednesday night. I need to go home tonight and take some photos. She made ginger snaps, which are the best ginger snaps I've ever had, and some coconut wreath cookies (I'll post recipes and picture later).

All said we have four batches made. We're heaindg up to Michigan on a day trip tomorrow to see my garndfather and will bring some for the family. We'll also have some for turducken, which is just eight days away. I will probably also make some biscotti between now and then and maybe something else as well.

It was always a tradition around my parent's house to have a lot of home-baked cookies around before Christmas. This week I have spent some time looking for different recipes seeing if there's anything new I want to try when I ran upon the Chicago Tribune's 2007 Holiday Cookie Contest winners.

The second and third place winner looked pretty good, though I would substitute the dried fruit in the last one, but the winners recipe didn't appeal to me. I'm not a fan of dried fruit. Also, all that work and you get 18 cookies? I guess the second place winner only gets a dozen from her recipe too. That's a lot of work for a little reward.

What's you favorite holiday cookie?

Thanksgiving wrap-up part one

Sorry for not posting for a couple of days, it was busy getting things ready for the holiday. I'll post about the dessert Rory and I made tomorrow.

Her parents put out quite the spread. They had turkey and turducken, both cooked on the grill. It was the first time in awhile I had grilled turkey and the flavor was fantastic. The turducken was also great. I can't wait to cook my own in a couple of weeks.

My cauliflower gratin turned out really well. The roux, which I had issues with before finally turned out (Kristen, thanks for the tip, I'll keep it in mind). Everybody seemed to really enjoy the dish.

Tomorrow is Thankgiving Part Deux: The Reckoning. My folks are brining the turkey, which make me very happy.

Turkey fun

The Chicago Tribune's John Kass skews a little right for my politically but he is a White Sox fan and a cook so I do appreciate some of this columns. Yesterday he decided to share his turkey secret to the world: brine it. And I couldn't agree with him more.

My buddy Ed was first to introduce brining to me. He's been doing it to Thanksgiving turkeys for years. He enjoys it so much, he'll cook a turkey for his wife's Thanksgiving dinner and cook another one the next day for the two of them. I thought it was a little odd until I started experimenting with brining this summer.

I had my parents and grandmother over for father's day this year. Rory and I had just moved into our new place and it has a backyard where I can grill. So instead of trekking to the south burbs they came up and I cooked. In preperation for this I did some additional reading on grilling trying to think of something different than chicken and ribs. I has always considered myself a good griller, but what brining did to this meat just took it to another level.

I took a couple of chickens and some country pork ribs and threw them in a brine of garlic, thyme, brown sugar, salt and pepper. The chicken was good, but it was the ribs that were fantastic: moist, delicious and flavorful. I was hooked.

Later in the summer when a couple of other friends came over I brined some center cut pork chops in the same mixture. Again, out of this world.

About a month ago I was in Dominick's and I saw turkey breasts on sale. Following on what Ed had said I bought one and brined it in some crushed pepper corns, bay leaves, brown sugar, thyme and salt. The result was the best turkey I have every had in my life. The flavor and moisture that the brining enables is just difficult to explain if you've never done it before.

Rory and I are doing two Thankgiving this year. The actual day we'll be at her parents and then on Saturday we're going to my folks house. I think I talked my mom into brining the turkey we're having. I know Rory's folks cook their turkeys on the grill but I don't know if they brine, though Rory's dad was talking about doing a turducken along with the turkey, but I haven't heard for certain.

The Turducken Chronicle: Part One

Rory, my girlfriend, and I will be having around 16 to 18 people over for dinner in a month. It's a sit down affair and will be a Thanksgiving/Christmas type of thing with the guests supplying different dishes.

The main course will be a turducken. This will be the second year I have cooked the bird of three. I am not brave enough to actually assemble the fowl myself, I will be ordering one, though I haven't decided where from yet. I enjoyed the bird(s) we had last year but the stuffing wasn't very good, a cornbread concoction that was pretty bland. So, I might try a new place this year.

Damn, I can't believe this is a month away.